Network monitoring probes are devices that are used to monitor traffic in a network. Often it is desirable to have network monitoring probes located remotely from the network operator or service provider to monitor traffic associated with one or more customer networks. For example, a network service provider, such as an Internet service provider, may desire to monitor traffic in customer networks. In order to monitor such traffic, the Internet service provider may deploy network monitoring probes in the customer networks. In one example, the customer networks may be networks located in commercial locations. In another example, the networks may be networks located in residential locations. In either case, the networks will have a modem or access point that provides access to the wide area network (WAN). The customer may also have a router or firewall to route traffic and protect the customer's internal network. The monitoring probes may be located inline between the modem or access point and the router or firewall.
One problem associated with deploying network monitoring probes in customer networks is that the probes must be configured so that the probes can be communicated with and monitored by the network service provider. Configuring network monitoring probes requires the assignment of a public Internet protocol (IP) address to each probe. If each network monitoring probe is required to have its own public IP address, the cost of such addresses can also be cost-prohibitive.
As indicated above, one particular type of monitoring that may be desirable to perform is inline monitoring between a modem or AP and a router or firewall owned by the customer. To perform such monitoring, the service provider may place an inline probe between the modem or AP and the router or firewall. The service provider must configure the probe to be able to receive commands and send data to a remote monitoring control center. For the reasons set forth above, manual configuration of such probes, especially when multiple different customer sites are being monitored, can be labor and cost-prohibitive.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties there exists a need for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for configuration and control of a remote inline network monitoring probe.